Control means for awning shutters



Feb. 18, 1964 c. BLANCHARD CONTROL MEANS FOR AWNING SHUTTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 5. 1961 FIG 2 FIG .4

INVENTOR. DONN c BLANCHARD \A ATTORNEY FIG-.3

Feb. 18, 1964 D. c. BLANCHARD 3,121,458

CONTROL MEANS FOR AWNING SHUTTERS Filed Oct. 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. DONN C BLANCHARD BY 9 %F, \A. Q4 LL. ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,121,458 CONTI'RQL MEANS F853. AWNING SHUTTERS Donn C. Blanchard, North Miami, a., assignor to Hurr-I-Cane Awning Shutter Co., Inc., Hialeah, Fla, a corporation of Florida Filed Get. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 143,130 1 Claim. Cl. Nit-58) This invention relates to awnings of the so-called shutter type and which are provided with a canopy that is pivotally attached to a building above a window, door or other opening and which can be pivoted down from its extended or projected position to a lowered position whenever required to cover the window or door and thus afford full protection for the same.

Certain types of awnings of this kind are provided with pivotally attached side wings which, when the canopy is in its projected position, depend downwardly at the ends of the canopy and provide a measure of side protection. When the canopy is to be folded down to its windowcovering position it is necessary to fold the side wings inwardly under the canopy to permit the desired infolding of such wings and the downward movement of the canopy. The infolding movement of the side wings is generally performed by hand and while it can be conveniently done in the case of a relatively narrow awning in which the two side wings can be grasped by the hands of the outstretched arms and simultaneously pivoted inwardly, it cannot be conveniently done by one person when the awning is relatively long and the span between the two wings is greater than the distance which can be reached by the stretch of the arms of the operator.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a simple and effective mechanism by which the side wings of an awning of this type can be manipulated by one person without regard to the length of the awning, and in which the wings can be either retracted or extended by the manipulation of a single handle member located at the center of the canopy of the awning.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the pro vision of an awning having a canopy provided with foldable end wings which are connected by linkage to a pivoted lever centrally positioned at the under side of the canopy and which lever, by the movement of a handle attached to it, becomes effective to operate the linkage and cause the wings to be either extended or retracted according to the direction of movement of the handle.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an awning shutter constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line Z?. of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a view of a part of one of the side walls and attached wings of the awning, showing some of the parts for pivotally moving the wings to folded position;

FIG. 4- shows the loose pivot connection between one of the side wings and its operating link;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the awning and the wing-operating parts, and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through parts of the awning and at right angles to the view of FIG. 5.

The type of awning to which the present invention relates is one which has a top or canopy 1, preferably composed of aluminum, pivotally attached at its rear end to a building above a window, door or other opening therein and adapted to be projected or extended to the position shown in FIG. 1 or else to be brought down to cover and 3,121,458 Patented Feh. 18, 1964 protect the window. The particular type of awning or socalled awning shutter" herein disclosed is provided at its opposite ends with movable wings shown at 2 and 3 which are hinged at the top as shown at 4 to fixed walls 28 of the canopy. The wings as herein shown are composed of a plurality of spaced slats or strips 17 tied together by the bars 16 and 26. A similar bar 27 connects the slats or strips of the fixed end walls 28 of the awning, and the hinges 4 are mounted on the bars 26 and 27.

When the canopy is in its projected position, substantially as shown in FIG. 1, the side wings 2 and 3 extend down vertically and afford side protection supplemental to the fixed end walls on the canopy. When the canopy is to be brought down to cover the window, it is necessary that the wings 2 and 3 be folded inwardly or in a direction toward one another to lie under the canopy and permit the canopy, with the wings then disposed inside of it, to be lowered down over the window and secured down in such a position.

In the known construction of awnings of this kind, the wings must be manually infolded and in the case of a relatively long awning the simultaneous infolding of the wings is diflicult and in some cases impossible by one person due to the distance between the wings. The present invention therefore has reference to a means by which the side wings of the awning can be simultaneously infolded by the manipulation of a single operating handle.

Extending across the under face of the canopy 1 and secured thereto, is a pair of spaced box rails 5 and 6 which provide strength and rigidity to the canopy. Extending between and fastened to the rails 5 and 6 is a hollow girder 7. Pivotally mounted on said girder 7, by means of a pivot bolt 8, is a rocking lever 9 which is pivoted at a central point on the bolt 8. One off-set end of the lever 9 is pivoted at 10 to one end of a lengthy operating link ll which has its opposite end attached by a loose pivot connection, to a pivot screw 12, threadably secured in the leg 13 of an angle bracket 14 (FIG. 4), attached by screws or rivets 15 to the rail 16 extending along and secured to the strips or slats 17 which form the side wings of the awning.

Similarly, the opposite end of the rocking lever 9 is pivoted at 18 to one end of a lengthy link 19 that has its opposite end pivotally attached at 2% to a bracket 21, similar to that shown at 14, and provided on a rail 22 secured on the inside of the second side wing of the awning.

Secured to and projecting laterally from the lever 9 adjacent to the pivot 18 is an operating handle 23 by means of which the lever 9 may be rocked in a manner to cause the links 11 and 19 to which it is pivotally attached, to swing the two side wings 2 and 3 of the awnings inwardly on their pivots 4 in a direction toward one another and under the canopy 1. It is apparent from FIG. 2 that the inward swing of the wings from the dependent or vertical position of FIG. 1 to a horizontal position as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 will be had by a clockwise rotative movement of the lever 9 from the full line position of FIG. 2 to the dotted line position therein shown.

Fixedly attached to and projecting from the girder 7 is a latch member 24 having as its function the engagement and retention of the operating handle 23 when the handle is swung beneath the latch member by movement of the handle 23 to the wing-retracting position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2.

From the foregoing, the operation of the described apparatus will be readily understood. In the normal or projected position of the awning, or that shown in FIG. 1, the movable end wings 2 and 3 depend downwardly from the fixed end walls 28 and afford side protection. When it is desired to lower the awning to bring the canopy thereof down over the front of the window or door, the

operating handle 23 is moved clockwisely as viewed in FIG. 2. This manual movement of the operating handle will rock the lever 9 on its pivot 8, causing links ll and 19 to be brought inwardly or toward the center of the awning and bringing the wings 2 and 3 inwardly under the canopy to an inoperative position.

The maintenance of the wings in the infolded position above described is assured by the engagement of the operating handle 23 with the latch member 24. T he canopy may then be swung downwardly or to its lowered position without interference from the infolded wings and can be secured down over the window in such lowered position. When the awning is raised to its extended position, the procedure is reversed, that is to say, the handle 23 is moved in the opposite direction and the wings will be extended to their vertical protective positions at the opposite ends of the awning.

The structure described is such that by the simple movement of a single operating handle, both of the side Wings are simultaneously moved to either retracted or lowered position with the operation performed at a central point on the awning. Thus, the operation is capable of being performed by one person and in the case of lengthy awnings this is of importance and usefulness.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not be estricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

An awning device of the character described that comprises a canopy adapted 'to be hinged to a building and capable of being projected in position to protect a Window over which it is pivotally mounted, and also being capable of being lowered to cover the window, the canopy being formed of a plurality of metallic strips, means disposed on the underside of the canopy connected to the strips fixing the strips in spaced apart relation to each other, the awning having a pivoted side wing at each of its side edges, the side Wings being likewise formed of metallic strips that are anchored together, a central girder memher on the underside of the canopy and fixed to the said means of the canopy whereby to project below the canopy, the said girder member having lateral flanges throughout its length, the girder member and the flanges terminating with the first named means, the side Wings having bar reinforcing members fixed to the strips and parallel with fixed bar members fixed to the ends of the canopy, the said bar members being connected together by hinge elements whereby the side wings may be swung inwardly to a position beneath the canopy, a lever centrally pivoted on said girder member, the said lever having its ends offset, a link pivoted at one end of said lever, the said link having its opposite end pivotally attached to one of the side wings, a second link pivotally attached at one end of the lever, the lastnamed link having its opposite end pivotally attached to the second Wing, a handle projecting from the lever adjacent to one of its ends and means by which the lever can be swung on its pivot to cause the links to pivotally move the wings inwardly toward one another and toward the inside face of the canopy and a latch fixed to one of the flanges of the girder member and lying in the path of swinging movement of the handle whereby the end panels are simultaneously swung inwardly or simultaneously swung to a projected position with the handle being latched in either position to maintain the side wings in either position, the links at their pivotal points with respect to the wings having a lost motion connection and the links at their point of pivotal connection with the lever also having a lost motion connection.

References filed in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 770,315 Rodelstab Sept. 20, 1904 2,814,999 Reeves Dec. 3, 1957 2,905,073 Aveni Sept. 22, 1959 FOREEGN PATENTS 10,321 Netherlands Jan. 15, 1924 90,632 Sweden Dec. 26, 1937 

